Very impressed with the service provided by the Albert Grace team. Sophie was brilliant throughout the renting process, and when she was not available someone else from the team would step in and help. I'm really glad that hubby and I found the flat that we wanted managed by a fantastic agency.

Just a few thoughts on Malay and his team. From inception to finish the service was nothing less than professional. Malay has done some considerable renovation on my my rental properties and from the initial specification to the final fitting the process was smooth,measured and transparent. Every last detail was taken care off and great care was taken not to inhibit the tenants so as to avoid problems for me. I will certainly be using Malay for future projects.

Five stars are not enough to describe how excellent Sophie and Malay have been in supporting us in the tenancy process. On top of being very professional, they have also been extremely kind, honest and pleasant people to deal with. All the properties we have viewed with them were stunning! Definitely recommended!

Excellent, friendly and professional service provided over our 3-year tenancy - from our first meeting right the way through to our departure date. Clearly had the tenants interests at heart while maintaining a strong relationship with the landlord Highly recommended estate agent

Great guys at AG, always on hand with any queries I had and very thorough and professional, and anyone would expect them to be, with a Real Estate market guru heralding the business who's hands on approach and focus to deliver is top notch and incomparable.

Never disappoint - always deliver! A great family run company where customer service is right at forefront. I have been using 'Albert Grace Estate Agents' for 16 years. They are good value for money and as a fully managed property service I know my rental property is in good hands. Start to finish, professional, efficient, honest and straight talking.

We have been working along side Albert Grace and have to say that Malay and his colleagues are a great team and a great asset to the company. They are very proactive, honest and reliable. We look forward to many more years of working together. Thank you for all your hard work.

The team at Albert Grace Estate is incredible. From renting my flatour quickly and to the right candidates they are always proactive andprovide good support. Also they have good knowledge about currentlaws, they even help me find cheaper insurance and they have greatnetwork. Highly recommend them anytime.

Before I bought a property for investment, I happened to talk to Albert Grace Estates.They advised me so well that I directly built trust in their capabilities. Their knowledge about the real estate market is solid. They react very fast and found a perfect property to invest in.Albert Grace is now managing my new property and I am very pleased with their service. We rented the property and they fully manage all aspects of rental.

UK rents expected to rise faster than house prices in next five years

UK rents expected to rise faster than house prices in next five years

Rics survey heaps further misery on Britain’s growing army of renters, who will likely have fewer properties to choose from

UK rents are expected to rise faster than house prices over the next five years, bringing further misery to Britain’s growing army of renters, according to a survey. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors has predicted that rents will increase by just over 25% in the coming years, while property values are set to grow by less than 20%.

In the three months to January, tenant demand for rental properties continued to go up. With landlords expected to scale back their portfolios in the next 12 months, tenants will have fewer properties to choose from, which is likely to push rents higher, the survey suggests.

Rics said there was a lack of new listings coming on to the lettings market for the fourth quarter in a row and its members expect this to worsen.

The past few months have seen a number of buy-to-let investors sell up, including Britain’s biggest landlord, Fergus Wilson and his wife, Judith, who declared that the days of small buy-to-let landlords were numbered after the stamp duty increase last year and other tax changes, along with tougher mortgage rules.

The Rics survey was conducted before the release of the government’s housing white paper on Tuesday, which promised encouragement for private developers to build large-volume rental flats for tenants, and more long-term “family friendly” tenancies. Campaign group Generation Rent criticised the fact that these were limited to new purpose-built private rented homes and said renters on stagnant wages needed homes costing no more than one-third of their income.

But Jeremy Blackburn, the head of UK policy at Rics, said ministers had listened to the organisation and stressed that the fledgling build-to-rent sector needed a “turbo-boost”. “At the same time, we need to stop punitive measures against our bedrock small landlords. The detail on the ban on letting agent fees is yet to come, and along with any overt forcing of longer tenancies, [it] could dampen investment in buy to let overall. The government must be careful about signalling both stop and go at the same time,” he said.

According to the Rics survey, a net balance of 25% of surveyors reported rising house prices in January. Property values are expected to continue their upward trend across the UK over the next 12 months, except in London, where they are expected to fall further. North-west and south-west England and Northern Ireland are seeing strong growth.

Supply and demand are stagnant. Rics said the number of properties for sale across the country remained close to historic lows, while a net balance of 5% of surveyors reported an increase in demand from homebuyers, the lowest reading since last August.

Brian Murphy, the head of lending at the Mortgage Advice Bureau, said rent increases in many areas over coming months were “potentially a good outcome for landlords who are staying in the buy-to-let game, but not so great for tenants in the private rented sector”.